JP2023124559A - Server, method for controlling the same, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique to appropriately access a print service.SOLUTION: A server receives a print job from a print service that receives a print job from an information processing apparatus, and the server comprises: an access unit that access the print service; a condition management unit that manages a condition related to the access to the print service; an access management unit that manages the state of past accesses to the print service; and a determination unit that, based on the state of past accesses, determines whether newly accessing the print service prevents satisfaction of the condition. When it is determined that the accessing prevents satisfaction of the condition, the access unit does not newly access the print service.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to a server, its control method and program.

2. Description of the Related Art A technology is known in which an information processing apparatus requests printing from a print service configured on a cloud, and the printing apparatus associated with the print service executes printing. A service that mediates between a printing service and a printing device is also under consideration so that printing can be executed even if the printing service available from the information processing device does not correspond to the desired printing device. Patent Literature 1 describes a technique for adjusting the load on the server due to the request by adding a pseudo request to the request sent to the web server.

Japanese Patent No. 4472944

As the scale of the system using the print service increases, the number of accesses to the print service per unit time increases. This increases the load on the print service. Also, if the number of accesses to the print service per unit time increases, it may be regarded as unauthorized access such as a denial of service (DoS) attack, and access to the print service may be blocked. An object of some aspects of the present invention is to provide techniques for appropriately accessing print services.

In some embodiments, a server that receives a print job from a print service that receives the print job from an information processing apparatus, and manages access means for accessing the print service and conditions related to access to the print service. access management means for managing past access statuses to the print service; and based on the past access statuses, whether or not the conditions are no longer satisfied by new access to the print service. and a determination means for determining the condition, wherein the access means does not make new access to the print service when it is determined that the condition is no longer satisfied.

The above means provide techniques for properly accessing print services.

1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a printing system according to a first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a hardware configuration example of an apparatus according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a functional configuration example of an intermediary service according to the first embodiment; 4A and 4B are views for explaining examples of tables according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining an operation example of the printing system according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining an operation example of an intermediation service according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining an operation example of an intermediation service according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of an intermediary service according to the second embodiment; FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an operation example of an intermediary service according to the third embodiment;

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the scope of claims. Although multiple features are described in the embodiments, not all of these multiple features are essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same or similar configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

<First embodiment>
A configuration example of a printing system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The printing system includes, for example, information processing devices 110 and 120; printing devices 130, 140 and 150; printing services 160, 170 and 180; The number of each component of the printing system is not limited to the example in FIG. The printing system may also have components not shown in FIG.

The information processing apparatus 110 and the printing apparatus 130 are connected to a local area network (LAN) 101 and are connected to a wide area network 100 (for example, the Internet) through the LAN 101 . The information processing device 120 and the printing devices 140 and 150 are connected to the LAN 102 and connected to the wide area network 100 through the LAN 102 . The LANs 101 and 102 may be wired LANs, wireless LANs, or a combination of both. Print services 160 , 170 , 180 and intermediary service 190 are also connected to wide area network 100 . Each component of the printing system may be able to communicate with each other through wide area network 100 .

The information processing apparatus 110 has an application 111 , a print control section 112 and a communication control section 113 . Since the information processing device 120 may also have the same configuration as the information processing device 110, redundant description will be omitted. The application 111 provides the user of the information processing apparatus 110 with a print function. The application 111 instructs the print control unit 112 to print according to the input from the user. The print control unit 112 is a function commonly provided to multiple applications by the operating system (OS) of the information processing apparatus 110 . The print control unit 112 transmits the print job to the LAN 101 via the communication control unit 113 . The final destination of the print job is the printing device specified by the application 111 . The application 111 may specify the printer 130 connected to the same LAN 101 as an output destination, or may specify the printers 140 and 150 connected via the wide area network 100 as an output destination. The print job may be sent directly to the indicated printing device, or may be sent to a print service as described below.

Each of the printing devices 130, 140, and 150 prints according to the print instruction. The printers 130, 140, and 150 may all be of the same model, or may be of different models. The printing device 130 may include at least one of a scanner function and a facsimile function in addition to the print function. A printing device 130 having multiple functions in this manner may also be called a multifunction printer (MFP).

Each of the print services 160 , 170 , 180 transmits a print instruction to a printing device (for example, the printing device 130 ) according to the print job generated by the information processing device 110 . Although the print service 160 will be described below as a representative, the print services 170 and 180 may have the same configuration unless otherwise described. The print service 160 provides print services to the information processing apparatus as described above. For example, the user of the information processing device 120 may be able to use a print service contracted by the company to which he/she belongs (for example, the print service 160). A print service 160 provides a virtual logical print device 161 . The logical printing device 161 is recognized as a printing device by the information processing device (specifically, the print control unit 112). The information processing device can generate a print queue for the logical printing device 161 as well as for a normal printing device.

A user who has logged in to the print service 160 from the information processing device 120 may instruct the logical printing device 161 of the print service 160 to transmit the printed matter in order to output the printed matter from the printing device 140 . In response to this, the information processing device 120 transmits an instruction for controlling the logical printing device 161, print data, setting commands, etc. as a print job. The print service 160 instructs the printing device 140 to print according to the print job received from the information processing device 120 .

The print service 160 may be provided by an on-premises server connected to the wide area network 100, or may be provided by a plurality of servers that constitute cloud computing (hereinafter simply referred to as cloud). A print service provided by the cloud may be referred to as a cloud print service. An example of a cloud print service is Universal Print (registered trademark) provided by Microsoft (registered trademark). Print services 160, 170, 180 may provide different print services.

Print services 160, 170, 180 may only be available for some printing devices. The fact that the print service is compatible with the printing device may mean that the printing service is capable of transmitting print data to the printing device and executing printing. In the example of FIG. 1, the print services 160 and 170 are compatible with the printing devices 140 and 150, but are not compatible with the printing device . It is also assumed that the print service 180 supports the printing device 130 but does not support the printing devices 140 and 150 . In such a case, even if the print service 160 receives a print job for printing to the printing device 130, it cannot instruct the printing device 130 to print in response to this print job.

Mediation service 190 mediates between two print services. Specifically, the mediation service 190 receives a print job from a print service that receives a print job from an information processing device, and transmits the print data to another print service capable of transmitting print data to the printing device. In the above example, assume that the print service 160 receives from the information processing apparatus 110 a print job whose output destination is the printing apparatus 130 . Print service 160 sends this job to intermediary service 190 . The mediation service 190 transmits the print job to the print service 180 corresponding to the printing device 130 and causes the printing device 130 to print. In this way, by using the mediation service 190, the user of the information processing device 110 can execute printing on the desired printing device 130 simply by sending a print job to the print service 160 with which he or she has a contract. can. This reduces the risk of the user of the information processing apparatus 110 taking the print data out of the company and leaking it.

The mediation service 190 may be provided by an on-premises server connected to the wide area network 100, or may be provided by a server constituting a cloud.

In the following description, a print service (for example, the print service 160) that receives a print job from the information processing apparatus 110 and sends it to the mediation service 190 is called an upstream print service. A print service (for example, the print service 180) that receives print data from the mediation service 190 and sends it to a printing device is called a downstream print service. A single print service may function as both an upstream print service and a downstream print service. For example, print service 180 corresponds to printing device 130 and not to printing device 140 . Therefore, the print service 180 functions as a downstream print service for a print job instructing printing from the printing device 130, and functions as an upstream printing service for a print job instructing printing from the printing device 140. good.

A plurality of servers constituting a cloud are distributed and arranged in a plurality of regions. The user of the information processing device may select the physical area of the server that provides the print service 160 according to his/her locality. Alternatively, the cloud may automatically select a server that provides the service (eg, print service 160) according to the location of the user of the information processing device.

A hardware configuration example of the apparatus used in the printing system of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A illustrates a configuration example of the computer 200. FIG. The computer 200 may be used as the information processing apparatuses 110 and 120 in FIG. Computer 200 may also be used to provide printing services 160 , 170 , 180 and intermediary services 190 . The print services 160, 170, 180 and mediation service 190 may be provided by separate computers or by the same computer. A computer that provides services to clients may be referred to as a server. A server that provides print services may be referred to as a print server. A server that provides mediation services may be referred to as a mediation server.

The computer 200 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 201, a read only memory (ROM) 202, a random access memory (RAM) 203, a display device 204, an input device 205, an external storage device 206, an interface (I /F) device 207; When the computer 200 is used as the information processing device 110, the computer 200 may be a desktop or node personal computer (PC), or a mobile device such as a tablet or a smart phone.

A CPU 201 is a general-purpose processor and controls each component of the computer 200 . For example, the CPU 201 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 202 . A RAM 203 is a volatile memory and provides a work area when the CPU 201 executes programs. The external storage device 206 is configured by, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD), and stores data in a non-volatile manner. The external storage device 206 stores application software and various control programs.

The display device 204 is a device for displaying information (eg, user interface screens, messages, etc.) to the user of the computer 200 . The display device 204 is composed of a dot-matrix display, an indicator, or the like. Input device 205 is a device for receiving input from a user of computer 200 . The input device 205 includes, for example, a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, and buttons. The I/F device 207 is a device for connecting the computer 200 to an external network. The I/F device 207 may be configured by a network card for wired connection, and may be configured by a baseband processor and an antenna for wireless connection.

The printing device 210 includes a CPU 211 , a ROM 212 , a RAM 213 , a display device 214 , an input device 215 , a print engine 216 and an I/F device 217 . Printing device 210 may be used as any of printing devices 130, 140, and 150 of FIG. The printing device 210 is, for example, an inkjet printer. Since the CPU 211, ROM 212, RAM 213, display device 214, input device 215, and I/F device 217 of the printing device 210 may be the same as the components of the computer 200 with the same names, redundant description is omitted. The RAM 203 temporarily stores programs necessary for the operation of the print engine 216, setting values received from the information processing apparatus, and the like.

The print engine 216 prints on a recording medium based on print data received from the information processing apparatus. The CPU 211 receives print data from the information processing device through the I/F device 217 and transmits current status information of the printing device 210 to the information processing device. Status information is status data representing the state of the printing device 210 that can be returned by the printing device 210 in response to a request from the information processing device. The status data refers to the operating state of the printing apparatus 210, such as "printing" and "standby", and the status of the printing apparatus 210, such as "out of paper", "cover open", and "out of ink". This is information for notifying the error status.

An example of functional blocks of the mediation service 190 will be described with reference to FIG. The intermediation service 190 has a print service management unit 301 , an intermediation processing unit 302 and an access control unit 303 .

The print service management unit 301 manages information regarding print services using the mediation service 190 . For example, the print service management unit 301 receives a print service registration instruction from a user of the mediation service 190 (for example, an administrator of the print service 160), and registers the logical printing device of the print service in the database according to this instruction. The registered print service may be an upstream print service or a downstream print service.

Further, the print service management unit 301 associates upstream print services and downstream print services according to instructions from the user. The print service management unit 301 may provide a web browser operation screen used by the user to obtain information about the print service.

The mediation processing unit 302 performs processing related to the mediation service 190 . Specifically, the mediation processing unit 302 receives a print job from an upstream print service (for example, the print service 160), converts this print job into a format that can be processed by a downstream print service (for example, the print service 180), Send to a downstream print service. The mediation processing unit 302 may be capable of executing at least one of push printing and pull printing. Push printing is a method in which the print service 160 notifies the mediation service 190 that mediation of the print job is necessary in response to the print job received by the print service 160 from the information processing apparatus 110 . Upon receiving the notification, mediation service 190 requests print service 160 for information on the print job. Pull printing is a method in which the print service 160 transmits information about a print job to the mediation service 190 in response to an inquiry (request) from the mediation service 190 . Pull printing may be performed to process multiple print jobs at once.

The mediation processing unit 302 stores information about print jobs in a database. The information about the print job includes, for example, the print settings of the print job and the print start time (the time when the information processing apparatus 110 instructs printing). Information about the print job is deleted from the database when printing is completed or after the retention period has passed. Print data included in the print job is stored in the print data storage. The print data is deleted from the print data storage at the end of printing or after the retention period has passed.

The access control unit 303 controls access to print services. For example, when processing performed by the mediation processing unit 302 requires access to a print service, it is determined whether this access may be made. In order to make this determination, the access control unit 303 manages past access statuses to the print service (that is, performs access management). The access status may be managed by the time when the mediation service 190 accessed the print service in the past.

Also, the access control unit 303 manages conditions regarding access to the print service (that is, performs condition management). Conditions related to access are hereinafter referred to as access conditions. The access condition may specifically be a condition related to the number of accesses. For example, the number of accesses to the print service per unit time (for example, per second) does not exceed the upper limit (for example, 5 times). It may be

An example of a table stored in the database of the mediation service 190 will be described with reference to FIG. The database of the mediation service 190 stores, for example, a printer information table 400, a print job information table 420, and an access information table 440. FIG. Other than this, a table for managing settings of the mediation service 190 may be stored.

The printing device information table 400 stores information about combinations of upstream logical printing devices and downstream logical printing devices mediated by the mediation service 190 . In the printing device information table 400, a record is generated for each combination of an upstream logical printing device and a downstream logical printing device. The print service management unit 301 creates a record in the printing device information table 400 according to an instruction from the user. Information stored in the printing device information table 400 is referred to when the mediation service 190 mediates a print job.

Each record of the printer information table 400 has multiple columns 401-408 shown in FIG. The upstream printing device ID 401 indicates identification information of the logical printing device provided by the upstream printing service. The upstream print service ID 402 indicates identification information of the upstream print service. A downstream printing device ID 403 indicates identification information of a logical printing device provided by the downstream printing service. A downstream print service ID 404 indicates identification information of a downstream print service.

A tenant 405 indicates a company or organization to which a user who has a print service contract belongs. The printer name 406 indicates a display name arbitrarily set for the output destination printer (for example, the printer 130). The printer model name 407 indicates the product name of the output destination printer. An access token 408 indicates a token used for authentication for accessing upstream print services and downstream print services.

The print job information table 420 stores information about print jobs mediated by the mediation service 190 . In the print job information table 420, a record is generated for each mediated print job. Upon receiving a print job from an upstream print service, the mediation processing unit 302 creates a record representing the print job in the print job information table 420 . The mediation processing unit 302 deletes the corresponding record from the print job information table 420 in response to completion of printing by the print job.

Each record of the print job information table 420 has a plurality of columns 421-432 shown in FIG. A print job ID 421 indicates identification information of the print job. Columns 422 to 426 are the same as columns 401 to 405, so redundant description will be omitted. A user 427 represents a user who executed printing. The print job name 428 represents the name of the print job. Print job status 429 represents the status of the print job. The print data ID 430 represents identification information for managing print data by an upstream print service. The print settings 431 represent print settings for the print job. For example, the print settings 431 may include a print file name, file format, file size, paper size, paper type, color settings, print start time, location of the user who instructed printing, and the like. Print data address 432 indicates the address (eg, uniform resource locator (URL)) of the print data in the print data storage used by intermediary service 190 .

The access information table 440 stores information regarding access to print services by the mediation service 190 . In the access information table 440, a record is generated for each print service registered with the mediation service 190. FIG. In the example of the printing system in FIG. 1, when the print services 160, 170, and 180 are registered with the mediation service 190, the access information table 440 has records for each of the print services 160, 170, and 180. FIG. The access control unit 303 creates a record in the access information table 440 each time a print service is registered in the mediation service 190 .

Each record of the access information table 440 has multiple columns 441-444 shown in FIG. The print service ID 441 indicates identification information of the print service. The access condition 442 indicates a condition (the access condition described above) regarding access to the print service. The access waiting list 443 shows a list of processes waiting to access the print service. Access waiting list 443 may be implemented by a queue. The access status 444 indicates the past access status to the print service. For example, the access status 444 indicates the time when the print service was accessed in the past.

Access conditions 442 may vary from print service to print service. For example, the access condition for the print service 160 may be that the number of accesses per unit time (for example, one second) is 5 or less. The access condition for the print service 180 may be that the number of times of access in a predetermined period of time (for example, 1 second) is 10 or less.

An operation example of the printing system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which the information processing apparatus 110 designates the printing apparatus 130 and instructs printing, the print service 160 is the upstream print service, and the print service 180 is the downstream print service. Also, with reference to FIG. 5, an example in which the information processing apparatus 110 instructs the mediation service 190 to perform pull printing will be described. The operation of FIG. 5 is started when the information processing apparatus 110 receives a print instruction from the user. Assume that the information processing device 110 is ready to submit a print job to the print service 160 (specifically, its logical printing device 161) at the start of the operation in FIG. Also, assume that the print service 160 and the print service 180 are associated at the start of the operation in FIG. The operation by the mediation service 190 in FIG. 5 is performed by the mediation processing unit 302 . Hereinafter, sending a print job to the logical printing device 11 to the print service 160 is simply referred to as sending a print job to the print service 160 .

In S<b>501 , the information processing apparatus 110 transmits multiple print jobs to the print service 160 . In S<b>502 , the information processing apparatus 110 transmits an instruction for pull printing to the print service 160 to the mediation service 190 . In S503, the mediation service 190 requests the print service 160 for a list of print jobs. In S<b>504 , the print service 160 transmits a list of print jobs held by the logical print device 161 to the mediation service 190 . The print job information described in the list may be only part of the print job information, for example, only the print job ID 421 and the print data ID 430 .

In S505, the mediation service 190 creates a record in the print job information table 420 corresponding to the print job described in the received list. If information about multiple print jobs is included in the list, intermediation service 190 may perform subsequent processing for each of the multiple print jobs in parallel.

At S506, intermediary service 190 requests from print service 160 details of the print job being processed. At S507, print service 160 sends details of the print job to intermediary service 190 in response to this request. The print job details include information that was not received in S504, such as print job name 428, print job status 429, and print settings 431. FIG. At S508, the intermediary service 190 updates the record in the print job information table 420 corresponding to the print job being processed to include details of the received print job.

At S509, intermediary service 190 converts the in-process print job into a format that can be processed by a downstream print service (ie, print service 180). At S510, intermediary service 190 requests print data from print service 160 for the print job being processed. At S511, the print service 160 sends print data to the intermediary service 190 in response to this request. The larger the amount of print data, the longer it takes to receive the print data. After receiving the print data, at S512, the mediation service 190 updates the record in the print job information table 420 corresponding to the print job being processed to include the address of the print data stored in the print data storage.

In S<b>513 , the mediation service 190 transmits to the print service 180 a print instruction regarding the print job being processed. This print instruction includes the print data address 432 and the detailed information of the print job converted in S509. In S514, the print service 180 requests print data from the mediation service 190 in response to this print instruction. The print service 180 uses the print data address 432 included in the print instruction as the destination address. At S515, intermediary service 190 sends print data to print service 180 in response to this request.

At S<b>516 , print service 180 sends print data for the print job being processed to printing device 130 . The print data includes print commands. In S517, the printing device 130 prints the received print data. In S518, the printing device 130 notifies the print service 180 of the completion of printing in response to completion of printing. In S519, the print service 180 notifies the mediation service 190 of the completion of printing in response to receiving the notification of the completion of printing. In S520, the mediation service 190 notifies the print service 160 of the completion of printing in response to receiving the notification of the completion of printing. After this notification, the mediation service 190 deletes the record corresponding to the print job being processed from the print job information table 420 . In step S<b>521 , the print service 160 notifies the information processing apparatus 110 of print completion in response to receiving the print completion notification.

An example of a control method executed by computer 200 to provide brokerage service 190 will now be described with reference to FIG. This method is performed by the access control unit 303 of the mediation service 190 . The operation by the access control unit 303 may be performed by the CPU 201 executing a program read into a memory (for example, the RAM 203). The method of FIG. 6 is initiated each time intermediary service 190 attempts to perform a process. For example, intermediary service 190 may initiate the method of FIG. 6 each time it attempts to perform the operations of S503, S505, S506, S508, S509, S512, S513, S515, S520 of FIG.

At S601, intermediary service 190 determines whether the process to be performed requires access to a print service. If the mediation service 190 determines that access to the print service is required ("YES" in S601), the process proceeds to S602; otherwise ("NO" in S601), the process proceeds to S603. do. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, the processes of S503, S506, S513, S515, and S520 require access to the print service, and the processes of S505, S508, S509, and S512 do not require access to the print service. .

If it is determined that access to the print service is not required, then in S603 the intermediary service 190 performs the processing to be performed. This process does not access the print service. If it is determined that access to a print service is required, intermediary service 190 identifies a print service to access at S602. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, for the processes of S503, S506, and S520, it is specified that the print service 160 should be accessed, and for the processes of S513 and S515, it is specified that the print service 180 should be accessed. be done.

In S604, the mediation service 190 adds the process to be executed to the end of the access waiting list 443 in the record of the access information table 440 corresponding to the identified print service.

An example of a control method executed by computer 200 to provide intermediary service 190 will now be described with reference to FIG. This method is performed by the access control unit 303 of the mediation service 190 . The operation by the access control unit 303 may be performed by the CPU 201 executing a program read into a memory (for example, the RAM 203). The method of FIG. 7 begins when the waiting list for access 443 is not empty. Brokerage service 190 may execute the method of FIG. 7 in parallel for each record of access information table 440 . In other words, intermediary service 190 may perform the method of FIG. 7 in parallel for each print service. In the example of FIG. 5, intermediary service 190 performs the method of FIG. 7 for print service 160 and print service 180, respectively.

In S<b>701 , the mediation service 190 selects the top process in the access waiting list 443 . In S<b>702 , the mediation service 190 acquires the past access status to the print service based on the access status 444 .

In step S<b>703 , the mediation service 190 determines whether the access condition is no longer satisfied by newly accessing the print service based on the past access status. As described above, access conditions to print services are managed by the access conditions 442 . If the mediation service 190 determines that the access condition is no longer satisfied ("YES" in S703), the process proceeds to S706; otherwise ("NO" in S703), the process proceeds to S704. .

If the access condition specifies the upper limit of the number of accesses per unit time, if the number of accesses in the period from the current time to the unit time ago reaches the upper limit, it is determined that the access condition is no longer satisfied due to the new access. be done. On the other hand, in this example, if the number of accesses during the period from the current time to the unit time ago has not reached the upper limit, it is determined that the access condition is satisfied even if a new access is made.

If it is determined that the access condition will not be satisfied, the mediation service 190 updates the access status 444 at S704. Specifically, the mediation service 190 records the time (current time) at which S704 is executed in the access status 444. FIG. Thereafter, at S705, the intermediary service 190 executes the selected process by accessing the print service. For example, if the process being selected is the process of S503 in FIG. 5, the mediation service 190 requests the print service 160 for a job list. In this way, the access status 444 records the time each time the print service is accessed.

If it is determined that the access condition will no longer be satisfied, then at S706 the intermediary service 190 starts a timer to wait for execution of the selected process. At this point, no new access to the print service is made. The value of the timer defines the waiting time for execution of the process being selected. In some embodiments, the value of this timer may be the same value (eg, 100 milliseconds) regardless of the process being selected. The timer value may be predetermined and stored in ROM 202, for example.

In S707, the mediation service 190 deletes the selected process from the access waiting list 443 regardless of the determination result of S703. If the determination in S703 is NO, the selected process has been executed in S705, so there is no need to leave this process in the access waiting list 443. FIG. On the other hand, for the processing that was not executed when the determination in S703 was YES, the retry timing is controlled not by the access waiting list 443 but by a timer as will be described later.

At S708, the intermediary service 190 determines whether there are any processes whose timers have expired. If the mediation service 190 determines that there is a process whose timer has expired ("YES" in S708), the process proceeds to S709; otherwise ("NO" in S708), the process proceeds to S710. Transition.

In S709, the intermediary service 190 selects the process for which the timer has expired, and repeats the processes from S702 onward. As a result, the process whose timer has expired becomes the currently selected process. The intermediary service 190 retries to access the print service for this individual transaction.

At S710, the intermediary service 190 determines whether the access waiting list 443 contains the process. If it is determined that the process is included in the access waiting list 443 ("YES" in S710), the mediation service 190 transitions the process to S701; otherwise ("NO" in S710), The process transitions to S708. When it is determined that the process is included in the access waiting list 443, the top process in the access waiting list 443 is selected, and the processes after S701 are repeated. If it is determined that the pending access list 443 contains no processes, then it is determined whether any processes have expired timers.

According to the method described above, the mediation service 190 does not access the print service if the access condition is no longer satisfied by making a new access to the print service. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the load from being concentrated on the print service, and it is possible to prevent the firewall of the print service from blocking access from the mediation service 190 to the print service.

According to the method described above, after the process being selected in S707 is deleted from the access wait list 443, the process whose timer has expired is selected before the top process in the access wait list 443. FIG. Therefore, even if the access waiting list 443 is not empty, access retries for individual processes are performed.

The above method retried access for an individual process if the timer expired. Alternatively, if it is determined in S703 that the access condition is no longer satisfied by newly accessing the print service, the process being selected may be returned to the end of the access waiting list 443 . In this method, S708 and S709 related to the timer are omitted.

In the above-described embodiment, the upstream print service and the downstream print service are mediated by mediation service 190 . Alternatively, the print job may be sent directly from the upstream print service to the downstream print service (ie, without intermediary service 190). In this case, the upstream print service may perform the operations of FIGS. 6 and 7 above to access the downstream print service. Also, the downstream print service may perform the operations of FIGS. 6 and 7 above to access the upstream print service.

The intermediary service 190 receives print jobs from each of a plurality of upstream print services (e.g., print services 160 and 170) and sends corresponding print data to one downstream print service (e.g., print service 180). You may In this case, the intermediary service 190 may manage past access statuses to individual print services and conditions relating to access to individual print services for each of a plurality of upstream print services. In this case, the mediation service 190 may perform the operations of FIGS. 6 and 7 for each of the plurality of upstream print services.

<Second embodiment>
A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and redundant description of points that may be the same as in the first embodiment will be omitted.

In the first embodiment, in S706 of FIG. 7, the same value is set as the standby time regardless of the process being selected. In the second embodiment, the waiting time (that is, timer value) for the currently selected process is determined based on the priority of the currently selected process. Specifically, the intermediation service 190 may evaluate the priority of individual processes in three levels (eg, high, medium, and low), and the higher the priority level of the process, the shorter the waiting time. For example, the intermediary service 190 may set a minimum wait time of 100 milliseconds for high priority processing. The intermediary service 190 may set the second shortest latency of 200 milliseconds for medium priority processing. The intermediary service 190 may set a maximum wait time of 500 milliseconds for low priority processes. In this example, each individual process has three levels of priority, but the priority may be two levels or four levels or more. By determining the waiting time based on the priority of the process in this way, the higher the priority of the process, the more frequently the access is retried and the more likely it is to be executed first.

An example of a control method executed by the computer 200 to provide the mediation service 190 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This method is performed by the access control unit 303 of the mediation service 190 . The operation by the access control unit 303 may be performed by the CPU 201 executing a program read into a memory (for example, the RAM 203). The method of FIG. 8 differs from the method of FIG. 7 in that if S703 is determined to be YES, S801 is executed before S706 is executed, and other points may be the same. . Therefore, in FIG. 8, some of the operation blocks overlapping those in FIG. 7 are omitted.

At S801, the mediation service 190 determines the value of the timer for the process being selected. In the example of FIG. 8, the waiting time for the selected process is determined after it is determined that the access condition will not be satisfied by accessing the print service to perform the selected process. In this way, by determining the standby time when it is decided to use the standby time, it is possible to prevent the determined standby time from being unused.

A specific method for determining the priority of individual processes will be described below. The time required for the mediation service 190 to receive the print data requested by the print service 160 at S510 of FIG. 5 may vary depending on various factors. Therefore, the mediation service 190 may estimate the time required to receive the print data, and determine the priority of individual processes based on this estimated time. That is, the mediation service 190 determines the waiting time for the process of receiving print data from the print service 160 based on the estimated time required for receiving the print data. The mediation service 190 may set a higher priority to a process related to a print job that requires a longer estimated time to receive print data.

The intermediary service 190 may estimate the time required for reception based on the print settings 431 of the print job information table 420 (eg, file format, file size, location of the user included therein). The larger the amount of print data such as the file format and file size, the longer the time required for reception. Also, when the print service 160 is provided by the cloud, a server close to the user's location provides the print service 160 . Therefore, when the location of the user is far from the location of the server that provides the mediation service 190, the location of the server that provides the mediation service 190 tends to be far from the server that provides the print service 160 as well. The longer these servers are located, the longer the reception time tends to be.

Assume that the access waiting list 443 includes the processing of S510 in FIG. 5 (print data request) for a plurality of print jobs, and these processing cannot be executed. In this case, a print job with a longer estimated time to receive print data has a shorter waiting time, and is likely to be executed first. Therefore, it is possible to suppress variations in print completion times for a plurality of print jobs, thereby improving user operability.

Next, another specific method for determining the priority of individual processes will be described. Brokerage service 190 may prioritize individual transactions based on the type of individual transaction. Accessing the print service 160 is discussed below. For example, the processes of S506 and S510 in FIG. 5 are performed before execution of printing in relation to the print job. Therefore, the more this process is delayed, the later the print completion time is. On the other hand, the process of S520 in FIG. 5 is performed after printing is executed in relation to the print job. Therefore, even if this process is delayed, it does not affect the print completion time. Therefore, the intermediation service 190 sets a high priority to the processing that is performed before printing in relation to the print job, and reduces the waiting time for the processing before the execution of printing in relation to the print job. It may be shorter than the delay time for the processing to be performed.

In addition, the mediation service 190 may execute processing for accessing the print service 160 (for example, processing related to registration of the print service 160) unrelated to the print job. Since such processing also does not impact printing time, intermediation service 190 may set such processing to a lower priority than processing that occurs prior to printing in connection with a print job. . Therefore, the intermediation service 190 may set the waiting time for processing related to a print job that is performed before printing to be shorter than the waiting time for processing that is not related to the print job.

As described above, by shortening the waiting time for the processing that is performed before printing related to the print job, this processing will be retried sooner, so the time until printing will be executed will be shortened. sell.

In the above-described embodiment, the waiting time of the low priority process is longer than the waiting time of the other processes, so there is a possibility that the low priority process will not be accessed many times. Therefore, if access for performing individual processing has not been performed for a threshold time (for example, 5 seconds) or a threshold number of times (for example, 10 times), the mediation service 190 shortens the waiting time for this individual processing. You may For example, the intermediary service 190 may increase the priority of processing from low to medium, or may increase the priority of processing from medium to high. This makes it easier to execute processes that were not accessed consecutively.

The above method determines the wait time for the selected process after it is determined that access to the print service to perform the selected process would not satisfy the access condition. Alternatively, mediation service 190 may determine the waiting time for individual processes at other times. For example, the mediation service 190 may determine the wait time for a process when it is added to the access wait list 443 and store it in memory. Alternatively, the mediation service 190 may determine a waiting time for each process in the access waiting list 443 when the print service returns from service down or maintenance. Also, the mediation service 190 may periodically determine the waiting time for each process in the access waiting list 443 at regular intervals.

<Third Embodiment>
A third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the third embodiment, the mediation service 190 performs the operations of FIG. 9 in addition to those of the first or second embodiment. The method of FIG. 8 is performed by access control unit 303 of intermediary service 190 . The operation by the access control unit 303 may be performed by the CPU 201 executing a program read into a memory (for example, the RAM 203). The intermediary service 190 may periodically initiate the operations of FIG. 9 at regular intervals.

At S<b>901 , the intermediary service 190 determines whether there are multiple processes waiting to be accessed in the access waiting list 443 . The mediation service 190 shifts the process to S902 if it is determined that there are multiple processes ("YES" in S901), otherwise ("NO" in S901) ends the process.

In S902, the mediation service 190 acquires past access status. In S903, the intermediary service 190 determines whether or not the safety conditions regarding access to the print service are satisfied based on the past access status. If it is determined that the safety condition is not satisfied ("NO" in S903), the mediation service 190 shifts the process to S904, otherwise ("YES" in S903), ends the process.

A safety condition is a condition for determining a state in which there is a low possibility that the access condition described above will no longer be satisfied. For example, the safety conditions may be conditions that are necessary, but not sufficient, for the access conditions described above. In this case, the access condition is met if the safety condition is met.

For example, assume that the access condition is that the number of accesses to the print service per unit time (eg, per second) does not exceed the upper limit (eg, 5 times). In this case, the safety condition may be that the number of accesses to the print service per unit time (eg, per second) does not exceed an upper limit (eg, 3 times) that is lower than the above upper limit. The upper limit of the safety condition may be defined as a ratio (e.g., 80%) to the upper limit of the access condition, or may be defined as a difference (e.g., a value obtained by subtracting 2 times) from the upper limit of the access condition. Safety requirements may vary from print service to print service.

If the safety conditions are not met, there is a possibility that the access conditions will not be met soon. Therefore, in S<b>904 , the mediation service 190 rearranges the order of multiple processes in the access waiting list 443 based on the priority of individual processes in the access waiting list 443 . The method of determining the priority of individual processes may be the same as in the second embodiment. For example, the mediation service 190 rearranges the process so that the process with the higher priority is closer to the top of the access waiting list 443 . Brokering service 190 may maintain the original order for processes of equal priority. By rearranging in this way, a process with a high priority is selected first in S701 of FIG. Therefore, the print service is accessed first for the process with the highest priority among the plurality of processes.
<Other embodiments>
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by processing to It can also be implemented by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the claims are appended to make public the scope of the invention.

110 information processing device, 130 printing device, 160 printing service, 180 printing service, 190 mediation service

Claims (13)

A server that receives the print job from a print service that receives the print job from an information processing device,
access means for accessing the print service;
condition management means for managing conditions relating to access to the print service;
access management means for managing past access statuses to the print service;
determining means for determining, based on the past access status, whether the condition is no longer satisfied by newly accessing the print service;
The server according to claim 1, wherein the access means does not make new access to the print service when it is determined that the condition is no longer satisfied. When the access means does not access the print service for the individual process because the condition is no longer satisfied, the access means waits for the print service for the individual process after the waiting time for the individual process has passed. 2. The server of claim 1, reattempting access to the service. 3. The server according to claim 2, wherein said access means determines the length of said waiting time based on the priority of said individual processing. 4. The access means determines the waiting time based on an estimated time required to receive the print data when the individual process is reception of the print data from the print service. 4. The server according to 2 or 3. The access means shortens the waiting time for processing performed before execution of printing in relation to the print job than the waiting time for processing performed after execution of printing in relation to the print job. 5. A server as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4. 3. The access means makes the waiting time for processing related to a print job and performed before execution of printing shorter than the waiting time for processing not related to the print job. 6. The server according to any one of 5. The access means determines the waiting time for the individual process after it is determined that the condition is no longer satisfied by accessing the print service to perform the individual process. Item 7. The server according to any one of Items 2 to 6. 8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein said access means shortens said waiting time for said individual processing when access for performing individual processing has not been performed for a threshold time or a threshold number of times. A server according to any one of the preceding paragraphs. The server receives print jobs from each of a plurality of print services including the print service;
The condition management means manages past access statuses to individual print services for each of the plurality of print services,
9. The server according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein said access management means manages conditions relating to access to individual print services for each of said plurality of print services. When there are a plurality of processes waiting for access to the print service and a second condition regarding access to the print service is not satisfied, the access means is configured to 10. A server according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the print service is accessed first. 11. The server according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein said conditions include that the number of accesses to said print service per unit time does not exceed an upper limit. A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the server according to any one of claims 1 to 11. A control method for a server that receives a print job from a print service that receives the print job from an information processing device,
an access step in which an access means accesses the print service;
a condition management step in which a condition management means manages conditions relating to access to the print service;
an access management step in which access management means manages past access statuses to the print service;
determining means for determining whether the condition is no longer satisfied by newly accessing the print service based on the past access status;
A control method, wherein new access to the print service is not performed when it is determined in the access step that the condition is no longer satisfied.